Sa-Shai Daniels' Portfolio

We covered a lot this year, but the thing that really helped me was the reading/RAHAs (read, annotate, highlight, and answer). At least once a week we were assigned readings to do. These helped me a lot with comprehension. It allowed me a chance to reflect on things we learned class or be introduced to new information that we had yet to learn. The other part of the readings that helped me a lot was the annotating because when I was studying my annotations helped me find the info quickly and made it easier to remember because it was written in my own words. Ever since I started going to STEM I’ve been RAHAing and it hasn’t always been fun or easy, but it has always been helpful. The more I do it the better I become at it and the more useful it is to me. This year I have had more readings assigned than ever and even it took a lot of work and precise note taking I’m glad I took the time to do it because in the end it helped me understand the things I was learning in class.

I think that the best artifact that would show how I’ve grow this year would definitely be the RAHAs because that is where I did most of the learning and it also just so happens to be where I did most of the work. Generally when I am RAHAing a reading I highlight and annotate as I read. Everyone has their own way of doing it but for me I like to make my annotations like short summaries of what was highlighted. I do this because I makes it easier for me to understand and remember the content.

The one thing that stood out to me the most during this year was the brain project that we did where we modeled how our brain functions. The first model that I made wasn’t the best. It was an extremely simple and not much thought was put into it. After learning a bit more on the subject I created a second draft and then a third and a fourth and so on. By the end of it I had a proper model of my brain and how it functioned. I really liked this project because of all the revisions because I think that the process made it so that the end product was at its very best.

The first artifacts that I would use to show my growth would be the RAHAs we did because those really helped me to understand and comprehend what we were learning in class. The other artifact that I think would show how much I learned during this unit is the learning and the brain profile that I wrote because it is the culmination of all that I learned during this unit. Overall this unit taught me a lot about the brain in general and on a personal level.